Improvement in bag tag and fastener



H. ANDERSON. -Bag Tag and Fastener.

No. 210,001. Patented Nov. 19, 1878.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIGE. v

HANSFORD ANDERSON, OF WEST POINT, VlRGlNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BAG TAG AND FASTENER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 210,001, dated November 19, 1878 application filed September 18, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HANSFORD ANDERSON, of West Point, in the county of .King William and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tags for Mail-Bags and similar articles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use they same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention consists in a bag-fastenin g tag suitable for mail-bags, &c., and which, by reason of its peculiarity of construction, serves not only the duty of a tag or label for the bag, but also serves to tighten up and to fasten the mouth of the bag, and all with a single cord, and in a much better and more efioient manner than heretofore.

The present approved mode of closing up the mouths of canvas mail-bags (and to which class of bags my invention is more especially applicable) is by means of a plaited, braided, or other cord, which is passed in and out alternately through a series of eyelets or other holes made in the top of the bag, and extending all around it. The ends of such cord are then pulled, so as to gather up and close the mouth of the bag, and they are then tied in a knot to secure them. The labeled tag, consisting simply of a piece of wood having a hole near its end, is next provided with another cord, which is passed through such hole and tied, and this cord is then tied around the bag. This method requires two cords and two tyin gs of knots, and when the bags are to be opened there is the delay and inconvenience of untying both knots, and the frequent necessity of cutting the cords to get the tags off and to open the bags, and a consequent great loss of time and patience, besides the waste of cord, which is a large amount annually to the Government. Many other minor inconveniences also attend the present mode.

With my invention, which I will now proceed to describe, these delays and inconven iences are avoided, the operations of closing and unclosing the bag and of attaching and releasing the-tag are simplified and hastened,

a single cord suffices, no knots need be tied, no cords cut and none wasted, and a great saving is effected.

Figure 1 illustrates my improved fasteningtag detached, and Fig. 2 shows the same applied to a mailbag.

The tag A (marked or labeled as desired) is preferably made of a block or piece of wood about seven and a half inches or so in length, and, say, an inch and a quarter wide, and about five-eighths of an inch thick, and has, as usual, a hole, I), through which to pass a cord; but instead of placing this hole near one end of the block, as heretofore, it is made some three or. more inches from the end, and is of a size to permit both ends of the bag-closiu g cord to be passed freely through it. At about threequarters of an inch or so from this hole is another and smaller one, 0, of a size adapted to admit the same two thicknesses of the cord, but somewhat more snugly, and this hole 0 connects with a narrow slit, (1, which extends to the end of the block, as shown, the slit being of a breadth about sufficient to permit a single thickness of the cord to pass through the same freely. The outer end of this slit is beveled off or widened to facilitate the-entering of the cord.

Thus constructed, the tag is all ready for use, and the manner of using it as follows: The cord being in its proper place in the holes in the top of the bag, and the bag ready for closin both ends of the cord are first passed through the hole I) and pulled with one hand,

so as to gather up and close the neck or-mouth of the bag, while the other hand places the tag close up against this gathered neck. The loose ends of the cord are then brought over the top of the tag, and one after the other forced down the slit (1, so that both lodge in the small hole 0, the ends being now behind the block. They can then be quickly wound one or more times around that part of the cord which lies back of the hole I), after which they may again be brought and passed back again through the slit d and into and close down into the liole 0, thus bringing the ends again to the front of the tag. Ordinarily this will give all the hold required, if not more, and the releasing of the tag can be readily done by simply reversing these movements, and, as will be seen, no knots need to be tied or to be untied.

Besides the advantages already stated as due to my invention, it will now be seen that, unlike other tags, this one is a bag-fastener also; that the bag is not fastened without it; that when fastened the tag lies close up to the bag, and the labeled or marked side of the long part 0, which extends beyond the hole I), being placed outward when the fastening is done, its label or direction is readily legible without any effort or any search to find the tag; that when, as often happens, large piles of filled mail-bags lie about or on top of each other, as in the mail-cars or elsewhere, their closed ends being outward, a hasty glance at the exposed tag will permit the mail officer or agent instantly to pick out the particular bag or bags wanted for given destinations, whereas, with the existing practice, the attached tags hang and lie about in every direction, or upside down, or perhaps under the bag, and much time and labor are thus wasted.

A single cord with my tag should last until the cord or the bag wears out, for there is no need and no temptation to cut or to remove it, and it is always ready.

The tags themselves also, when not in use, may, by means of the slot (1, be most conveniently put away for future ready use by simply pushing their slotted end against a cord or rope of suitable thickness placed horizontally in any appropriate place, the rope entering the slits tightly enough to hold the pendent tags; and if the edges of the tags be labeled or marked by any designating initials or words indicating the road or route, &c., they can always be so grouped or classified on the rope as to be instantly selected and removed for use, thus avoiding any delay in finding the particular tags needed.

My improved tag may be used in the manner described upon ordinary bags--such as grain, meal, and other bags--by simply passing the cord around their tops on the outside and passing the ends through the hole I), as before stated, and then securing them in any appropriate manner by means of slot d.

I claim- The described mail-bag tag, as made, not only with the hole b and the smaller hole a, communicating with the open-ended slit (7, but with the part 0, for the label or indicating inscription extending beyond the hole I), all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

HANSFORD ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

RICHARD A. BOLLING, JOSIAH ORUMP. 

